For various reasons, it may be desirable to extend the effective length of a vehicle cargo area such as a truck bed, such as for hauling a particularly long piece of cargo that would not fit in the cargo area with the tailgate in the raised position. In some cases, this is done by lowering the tailgate and placing a cargo area extender thereon to effectively increase the usable cargo area volume. Such cargo area extenders may be cage-like structures comprised of stacked, curved bars, box-like structures comprised of adjoining panels, and others. While effective, this arrangement requires using a large, separate component for placement on the lowered tailgate, which must be stored apart from the vehicle when not in use. Alternatively, the cargo area extender may be carried in the vehicle cargo area, but this reduces the amount of usable space in the vehicle cargo area.
In turn, often vehicle users require work surfaces for performing various tasks, and it is highly convenient to the user to have such work surfaces associated with or carried in the truck cargo area for use. However, again storing work surfaces such as tables, sawhorses, etc. in a truck cargo area reduces the amount of space usable for carrying other items.
Thus, a need is identified for a vehicle cargo area work surface that can be easily stowed when not in use so as not to occupy otherwise usable cargo area storage space, but which can be rapidly and easily deployed from the stowed configuration for use.